The Browns have hired Kwesi Adofo-Mensah as their new vice president of football operations, as ESPN’s Seth Walder was among the first to report (via Twitter). Adofo-Mensah previously served as the director of football research and development with the 49ers, and as Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal writes, he will essentially serve as assistant GM to Andrew Berry.
Adofo-Mensah, a Princeton graduate, adds to the Ivy League talent in the Cleveland front office (Berry is a Harvard grad). Adofo-Mensah spent seven years in the San Francisco organization, and according to his bio, he “led the 49ers’ efforts to develop and implement advanced quantitative methods for game strategy and personnel evaluation” (h/t Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com). He will presumably continue to expand his personnel resume with Cleveland.
In addition to the Adofo-Mensah hiring, the Browns have also hired Ryan Grigson on a full-time basis, per Cabot. The club brought on the former Colts GM in an advisory and consulting role back in February, and it sounded at the time as if the hire would become permanent after the draft. That has now happened, though Grigson’s formal title remains uncertain. He and Berry have a long-standing professional relationship and hold each other in high regard.
One year after being hyped virtually non-stop as a Super Bowl contender, the Browns have mostly flown under the radar this offseason. Though they made several major signings in free agency, and though Berry’s first draft was widely considered to be a successful one, Cleveland is not being talked about to nearly the same degree as it was in 2019. And that probably suits the team just fine. After shoring up the O-line and adding another weapon for Baker Mayfield in tight end Austin Hooper, the Browns may realize their potential just one season after they were supposed to. If Mayfield can return to the form he showed in his rookie campaign, things could get interesting in the AFC North.
I like the name Kwesi Adofo-Mensah
I had a feeling you would…lol.
How many Ivy League grads does it take to screw up a football team…
Less than it takes to screw in a lightbulb?
All bureaucracies work the same. One person screws up and everyone else covers their asx by saying they didn’t think the person should have been hired in the first place.
The Browns are going to regret hiring Grigson. The dude nearly murdered Andrew Luck. Some “highlights” of his management tenure include trading a first for Trent Richardson, drafting Phillip Dorsett 29th overall, and milking Deflategate for all it’s worth
Sounds like the kind of GM the Bears would want as a replacement for Ryan Pace.
This isn’t the first time the Browns have been linked to Grigson in the past few years and each time I get anxious they will give him real authority or decision making. Besides the horrible record you allude to (not protecting Andrew Luck should automatically disavow him from football employment permanently, just shameful) his ego and his attitude have a way of really rubbing people the wrong way, hardly conducive for building a successful team or organization (Pat McInally is shaking his head somewhere in his home). This guy brings bad karma to the team and his hiring is probably the worst decision Andrew Berry has made this off-season.
Sorry, I meant Pat McAfee. Just my latest brain cramp, I’ll have several more today. His quote upon learning of Grigson being fired in Indy: “‘Unwarranted arrogance just ran into a brick wall called karma’”…still makes me laugh…that comment belongs in the Response Hall of Fame, it’s one for the ages
The Browns are really putting their stain on Ivy league schools. The last 2-3 regimes were ‘Ivy League folks’.
Hmmm, so Dorsey and company were Ivy Leaguers?
Dorsey probably thought Ivy League was a group of agricultural colleges.
lol
If I were either of these guys, I wouldn’t unpack my belongings. Haslem will change his mind, completely reverse course, and fire them within a year or two because he’s an impulsive moron.